black history
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Family of Henrietta Lacks Seeks Compensation for Unauthorized Use of Her Cells
The story of Henrietta Lacks and her “immortal” cells is not quite over. Her eldest son, Lawrence Lacks, has come forth requesting compensation from Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University and possibly other institutions for the unauthorized use of the famous cells that prompted decades of medical advances. The Washington Post reports that Lawrence Lacks, who says…
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Watch: James Baldwin, in Our Words and His
James Baldwin is unequivocally one of the most prolific writers of his time. A queer black man, he brought life to the African-American experience through his novels, essays, debates and public lectures. And now a new generation is getting to experience the power of those words in the Oscar-nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro.…
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Living With History: The Descendants of Ida B. Wells Believe Everyone Has the Potential for Greatness
Editor’s note: For Black History Month, The Root is speaking to the relatives of our most cherished African-American heroes in a series called Living With History. To open the series, we interviewed a descendant of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington. Today we feature Michelle and Daniel Duster, the great-grandchildren of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, renowned…
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Watch: My Black History: Michael Eric Dyson on How MLK’s Assassination Opened His Eyes
Editor’s note: During Black History Month, the focus is usually on historical figures who loomed larger than life, paving the way for the progress we experience today. But black history isn’t just about telling stories of our past. History is being made every day and has been made throughout our lives; it’s not just in…
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Laurence Fishburne and Larenz Tate Launch Scripted Audio Series, Bronzeville
Laurence Fishburne and Larenz Tate are now taking on the world of podcasts with a new scripted drama about the numbers game in the 1940s neighborhood of Bronzeville in Chicago. The 10-part podcast, called Bronzeville, launched Tuesday morning and follows the lives of the people who ran the numbers and how it affected the black…
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Living With History: Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington Heir Saw the Burden and Beauty of His Ancestors’ Legacies
Editor’s note: For Black History Month, The Root is speaking to the relatives of our most cherished African-American heroes in a series called Living With History. Today we feature Kenneth B. Morris Jr., a descendant of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and educator Booker T. Washington, and spoke to him about how the family are keeping their…
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The Last Black History Month
After Donald Trump issued a statement that refused to acknowledge the 6 million Jews slaughtered by Nazi Germany during the 1940s on International Holocaust Remembrance Day Friday, black America should prepare ourselves for what may be the last Black History Month. I’m sure many of you doubt that the Cheddar Comb-Over could erase a tradition…
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Woman Who Caused Emmett Till’s Death Admits to Lying
We all (should) know the story of Emmett Till, the black 14-year-old Chicago boy who was murdered in August 1955 by two white men, J.W. Milam and his half-brother Roy Bryant. As the story goes, Emmett, who was visiting family in Mississippi, had gone into a store to buy some bubble gum. As he was…
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Va. Mom Furious After Son, Black Classmates Told to Act Like Slaves for Skit
A Staunton, Va., mom is calling for action after her son, who is in the sixth grade at Shelburne Middle School, was caught up in a controversial history lesson, WHSV reports. Tamika Derozen said that her son’s class was learning about the Louisiana Purchase when “the teacher asked all of the African-American students to come…